IcedID — Office (OOXML) / .XLSM malware analysis

Static analysis result for SHA-256 86c66f3585343d8d…

MALICIOUS

Office (OOXML) / .XLSM

328.6 KB Created: 2015-06-05 18:19:34 UTC Authoring application: Microsoft Excel 16.0300
MD5: 81b4f8a50bac631d950342e7746c5cb1 SHA-1: b630f912cdac8715634ad2d36d95701b54f57520 SHA-256: 86c66f3585343d8d106a16c7c0b3cfb1080e3b3b326b1d8eb24e57ce34a28831
270 Risk Score

Malware Insights

IcedID · confidence 95%

MITRE ATT&CK
T1059.005 Visual Basic T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

The file is an XLSM document containing Excel 4.0 macros, which are known to be used for malicious purposes. The macros utilize dangerous APIs like FORMULA and REGISTER to download and execute a second-stage payload from the URLs http://152.89.218.86/, http://82.118.23.186/, and http://45.138.157.211/. The ClamAV detection name 'Xls.Downloader.IcedID' strongly suggests the IcedID family, which is known for its downloader capabilities.

Heuristics 8

  • Excel 4.0 macro sheet (4 sheet(s)) critical OOXML_XLM_MACROSHEET
    Spreadsheet contains an Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro sheet — XLM was a major Office malware vector during 2020-2022 and evaded many VBA-focused controls before Microsoft tightened XLM defaults. Even legitimate XLM use is rare in modern workbooks.
  • Dangerous XLM formula APIs: FORMULA, REGISTER, GOTO, EXEC, HALT critical OOXML_XLM_DANGEROUS_FN
    Excel 4.0 macro sheet uses formula APIs that call directly into Win32 (=CALL/=EXEC/=REGISTER/=FORMULA). These are the primitives used to download payloads, write files, and start processes from an XLM macro without invoking VBA.
  • ClamAV: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0 critical CLAMAV_DETECTION
    ClamAV detected this file as malware: Xls.Downloader.IcedID-9f1f1d193a2a2a2b-9951463-0
  • Auto_Open macro high OLE_VBA_AUTO
    Auto_Open macro
  • VBA project inside OOXML medium OOXML_VBA
    Document contains a VBA project — VBA macros present
  • Suspicious extracted artifact medium EXTRACTED_FILE_STATIC_TRIAGE
    One or more files extracted from inside this sample matched static suspicious-content checks such as script obfuscation, encoded payload blobs, packed data, or execution/download terms.
  • Hidden worksheet (hidden) low OOXML_HIDDEN_SHEET
    Excel workbook contains 4 hidden sheet(s) — hidden sheets are commonly used to conceal macro code, staging data, or intermediate payload construction
  • Embedded URL info EMBEDDED_URL
    One or more URLs were extracted from the document. The URL itself is not a detection — see the per-URL labels for which channel (macro, JS, link annotation, document body, ...) reached each URL.
    URL http://152.89.218.86/
    • http://82.118.23.186/
    • http://45.138.157.211/
    • http://152.89.218.86/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://82.118.23.186/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://45.138.157.211/44300,5396033565.dat
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2006/main
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships
    • http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2009/9/ac
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2014/revision
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2015/revision2
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision3
    • http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/spreadsheetml/2016/revision6

Extracted artifacts 6

Files carved from inside the sample during analysis.

FilenameKindSourceSize
macros.bas
6654e3c83b8c7fef6aca3e1ba7a9637f5ed0887a102e00125e32ea9cc2e2d98f		 vba-macro oletools.olevba.extract_macros (decoded VBA source from OOXML) 767 bytes
vbaProject_00.bin
f447fb307c0acaea752fda0fe58fdde1e7f3fbee7a281cb95b151f61f3d1f0dd		 vba-project OOXML VBA project: xl/vbaProject.bin 10240 bytes
xlm_sheet_00.xml
5d287b32fda8e1f459eef3fbb227def853e83003dd14bfab03b7b72fb1e1f6be		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet1.xml 4198 bytes
xlm_sheet_01.xml
b8c730f18fefb56194b68eba86255c697b2a59d8e144a8fee2ea7fca9bf7be74		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet2.xml 1887 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_02.xml
6c2e894866b5363b81856474805e079e96f495562c47fea944d48d96770696ed		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet3.xml 1869 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).
xlm_sheet_03.xml
4adacd313c493c5d0951f5e5e3350a32ae3d12779fef180fa08ad7f105538469		 xlm-macrosheet OOXML XLM macro sheet: xl/macrosheets/sheet4.xml 1916 bytes
Detection
ClamAV: No threats found
Obfuscation or payload: likely
Carved artifact contains 1 shell/COM execution token(s).

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